Jet to repay Rs 1,000 cr of debt every year

Mumbai (Agencies): Jet Airways (India) Ltd, India's top carrier as far as market share is concerned, will repay Rs 1,000 of debt each fiscal and is also looking to prepay some of its high-cost rupee debt, officials said on Thursday.

The company is looking to prepay its high-cost debt worth between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 crore "at the earliest", Jet officials said in a conference call with analysts.

Jet Airways has a total liability of around Rs 13,000 crore.

The airline is awaiting nod from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to raise up to USD 400 mn from a share sale to foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

On Wednesday, Jet Airways had reported a 11.3% rise in Q3 net profit, boosted by an increase in air traffic.

A richer middle class, led by an economy that is growing at about 8.5% a year, has increased demand for air travel in India.

Jet officials said on Thursday the airline expects to better margins in both domestic and international operations by 2-3% going ahead, while earnings may go up by as much as 8-10% in FY12, supported by higher demand.

It plans to start services to new international routes next fiscal to destinations in Europe and far-east Asia, they added.